Radio Jets Emitted by Young Star

A radio infrared image of IRAS 18162-2048, a young star 5,500 light years away from the Earth.

Radio jets emitted by the young star are shown in yellow over the background of an infrared image by the Spitzer Space Telescope. The yellow bars show the orientation of a magnetic field in the jet, as measured by the Very Large Array; green bars show magnetic field orientation in the dusty envelope surrounding the young star. Two other young stars are seen at the sides of the jet. This is the first evidence found by astronomers of a magnetic field in a jet of material ejected from a young star.

To read more about this discovery, see the NRAO news story Discovery at Young Star Hints Magnetism Common to All Cosmic Jets.

(Date of Image: 2010)

Credit: Carrasco-Gonzalez et al., Curran et al., Bill Saxton, NRAO/AUI/NSF, NASA